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As a permanent member of the
United Nations Security Council and a large country in the Asia-Pacific
region, China attaches great importance to, and takes an active part in,
international security cooperation by sticking to its principles and promises,
treating others in a sincere and friendly way, and developing cooperation.
In recent years, China has actively carried out exchanges with foreign
armed forces on the basis of mutual equality and mutual benefit. China
has also actively participated in multilateral and bilateral security
dialogues and cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as in United
Nations peace-keeping operations, playing its due part in keeping peace
in the region and the world as a whole.
Foreign Military
Contacts
As an important component
of China's overall diplomacy, China's foreign military contacts are subordinate
to and serve the modernization of national defense and the armed forces.
China insists on dealing with its foreign military relations independently
and engaging in military exchanges and cooperation based on the Five Principles
of Peaceful Coexistence. In its contacts with foreign military circles,
China has always advocated the principles of mutual respect, enhancing
understanding, developing friendship, mutual benefit and cooperation.
Chinese armed forces have been active in participating in multilateral
military diplomatic activities to bring the positive role of the Chinese
armed forces into full play in the sphere of international military affairs.
China has been active in developing
an omni-directional and multi-level form of military diplomacy. So far,
Chinese armed forces have established relations with the armed forces
of more than 100 other countries. China has set up military attach*)_*'s
offices in more than 90 Chinese embassies abroad, and some 60 countries
have set up their military attach's offices in China. In the last 20 years,
more than 1,300 Chinese military delegations, of which some 180 were headed
by senior officers, have visited over 80 countries. In the meantime, 2,100-some
foreign military delegations involving several tens of thousands of persons
have visited China, more than half of which were high-ranking delegations
headed by defense ministers, commanders-in-chief of the armed forces or
chiefs of the general staff.
China has always placed the
development of military contacts with adjacent countries in a prominent
position. Following the principles of good-neighborliness and friendliness,
mutual benefit and cooperation and long-term stability, it has developed
extensive and beneficial contacts with the armed forces of those countries,
especially contacts on the senior level. In 1996 and 1997 alone, China
sent more than 100 military delegations to most of its adjacent countries,
and hosted over 130 military delegations from such countries. China has
placed special stress on friendly military exchanges and cooperation with
developing countries, and has offered assistance in personnel training,
equipment and health care to over 70 countries. Since 1973, China has
trained nearly 10,000 officers at all levels as well as military technicians
for developing countries, and sent over 8,000 experts to those countries.
China is enthusiastic for expanding military relations with the United
States and other Western countries in Europe. Proceeding from the objective
of safeguarding world peace and the fundamental interests of the people
all over the world, Chinese armed forces have successively resumed and
improved their relations with the armed forces of those countries on the
principle of increasing dialogue and narrowing differences, resulting
in the deepening of mutual understanding.
Since the beginning of the
1990s China's naval vessels have visited nearly a score of countries.
From March to May 1997, two formations of Chinese naval vessels made friendly
visits to the United States, Mexico, Chile, Peru, Thailand, the Philippines
and Malaysia, which have enhanced the friendship between the armed forces
of China and the armed forces and people of those countries.
In their foreign contacts,
Chinese armed forces stress technological exchanges in specialized fields.
They have developed extensive exchanges and cooperation with armed forces
in other parts of the world in the fields of scientific research, academic
studies, military education, armed forces administration, culture, sports,
and medical and hygiene work.
The positive, extensive foreign
military contacts on the part of the Chinese armed forces have promoted
mutual understanding and trust between the PLA and other armed forces.
The Chinese armed forces, which have gone among the international community,
have presented themselves before the world as a civilized force and a
force of peace, a force which has made its due contributions to keeping
regional peace and peace throughout the world.
Promoting Confidence-Building
Measures
China places great stress
on and actively promotes cooperation in confidence-building measures (CBM),
considering the establishment of mutual trust between nations as an effective
way to maintain security. In recent years, China has reached agreements
with some neighboring countries on confidence-building measures and reduction
of military forces in border areas, which is an important step China has
taken to develop relations with other countries and promote regional peace
and stability. These agreements reflect a new kind of security concept
vigorously advocated by China and embody some principles and spirit of
universal significance for Asian-Pacific security dialogues and cooperation.
These include mutual and equal security; seeking security by establishing
mutual trust, dialogue and cooperation without interfering in the internal
affairs of other countries and without aiming at a third party; preventing
military forces from threatening or harming other countries' security
and stability; implementing and sticking to a national defense policy
that is defensive in nature; adopting suitable confidence-building measures
in border and disputed areas on a bilateral basis; and engaging in friendly
contacts between military forces.
In April 1996, China and Russia,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan signed the Agreement on Confidence-Building
in the Military Field Along the Border Areas, which stipulates that military
forces deployed in the border areas shall not be used to attack each other;
each party shall refrain from staging military exercises directing against
the other; there shall be restrictions on the military exercises in terms
of scale, area and the number of such exercises; all the important military
activities of one party in the areas between the border and 100 kilometers
from the border line shall be notified to the other which shall be invited
to observe the troop exercises; measures shall be taken to prevent dangerous
military activities and enhance friendly exchanges of their armed forces
in the border areas.
In November 1996, China and
India signed the Agreement on Confidence-Building Measures in the Military
Field Along the Line of Actual Control in the China-India Border Areas.
The agreement provides that each side should not engage in military activities
that threaten the other side or undermines peace, tranquility and stability
in the border areas; that they should strictly respect and observe the
line of actual control in the border areas and neither side should overstep
the line of actual control in their activities pending ultimate resolution
of the boundary question; that they should reduce or limit the size of
field army, border defense forces, para-military forces and any other
mutually agreed category of armed forces and armaments deployed in the
mutually agreed geographical zones along the line of actual control to
the mutually agreed ceilings; that each side shall refrain from staging
military exercises directing against the other in the close proximity
of the line of actual control in the border areas and restrict the scale
of military exercises and provide prior notification to the other with
regard to military exercises of certain scale in the close proximity of
the line of actual control in the border areas; that they should prevent
air intrusions by military aircraft across the line of actual control
and dangerous military activities in the areas along the line of actual
control; that both sides should strengthen exchanges and cooperation between
their military personnel and establishments in the border areas along
the line of actual control.
In addition, in 1994, China
and Russia signed the Agreement on Prevention of Dangerous Military Activities
and the Joint Statement by the President of the People's Republic of China
and the President of the Russian Federation on Non-First-Use of Nuclear
Weapons and Detargeting of Strategic Nuclear Weapons Against Each Other.
In January 1998, China and the United States signed the Agreement Between
the Ministry of National Defense of the PRC and the Department of Defense
of the USA on Establishing a Consultation Mechanism to Strengthen Military
Maritime Safety. In June of the same year, President Jiang Zemin of China
and President Clinton of the United States announced that the two sides
had decided not to target each other with the strategic nuclear weapons
under their respective control. In addition, confidential direct redline
telephone communication links have been established between the head of
state of China and the heads of state of Russia and the United States.
Regional Security
Cooperation
China advocates regional-security
dialogue and cooperation at different levels, through various channels
and in different forms. Such dialogue and cooperation should follow these
principles: participation on an equal footing, reaching unanimity through
consultation, seeking common ground while reserving differences, and proceeding
in an orderly way and step by step. China has participated in the ASEAN
Regional Forum (ARF), Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building
Measures in Asia (CICA), Council on Security Cooperation in Asia and Pacific
Region (CSCAP), Northeast Asia Cooperation Dialogue (NEACD) and other
activities, holding that all countries should further mutual understanding
and trust by discussions on security issues through these important governmental
and non-governmental channels, so as to promote regional peace and stability.
China has attended all the
ARF foreign minister meetings and ARF senior official meetings. Chinese
representatives of foreign and defense affairs have attended official
and unofficial meetings within the framework of the forum, their topics
of discussion including promotion of confidence-building measures, peace
keeping, maritime search and rescue, the handling of emergencies and disaster
relief, preventative diplomacy, non-proliferation, and guiding principles.
In 1996 China and the Philippines jointly sponsored the Conference on
Confidence-Building Measures in Beijing. Between sessions of the conference,
which was crowned with success, foreign representatives were invited to
visit Chinese military units and observe military exercises. China supports
the ARF's creative explorations for the promotion of confidence-building
measures and has made a series of constructive suggestions and opinions
in this regard. For example, China advocates development of military medicine,
science of military law and multilateral cooperation on conversion of
military technologies and facilities for civilian use. It encourages the
exchange of high-level visits by senior military officers, and port calls
by naval vessels, as well as exchanges of military personnel between different
countries, and supports cooperation in emergency rescue and disaster relief,
maritime navigation safety, and marine environmental protection. In addition,
every year China submits to the forum a statement on national defense
policy and other related documents.
China has always been an active
participant in the process of the CICA initiated by Kazakhstan, regarding
the purpose of the conference as basically suiting China's security goal
in Asia. It suggests that the conference develop steadily with full consideration
of Asia's regional peculiarities and diversities. In 1996 China formally
joined the CSCAP, and in 1997 established the CSCAP China Committee, which
has always conscientiously participated in the council's activities. Since
1993, when the NEACD was founded, China has attended all NEACD meetings
and, in 1996, hosted its fourth conference in Beijing. Along with other
member states, China has also helped the NEACD to achieve unanimity on
the guiding principle of cooperation between Northeast Asian countries.
China has held consultations
in different forms with the United States, Russia, Japan, France, Canada
and Australia on issues of common interest in the areas of security and
defense. Officials and scholars of China's Ministry of National Defense
and other related departments have participated, in increasing breadth
and depth, in various discussions and other activities on Asian-Pacific
security, which has promoted understanding and trust between China and
the countries concerned, and shown China's positive intentions and efforts
to maintain lasting peace in the Asia-Pacific region.
Participating
in the UN Peace-Keeping Operations
As a permanent member of the
UN Security Council, China has consistently engaged in efforts to maintain
international peace and security. It cherishes and supports the role of
the United Nations in keeping international peace and security under the
guidance of the principles of the Charter of the United Nations. In order
to help UN peace-keeping operations achieve success and develop in a healthy
way, China holds that the following guiding principles should be stipulated
and followed:
-- The aims and principles
of the Charter of the United Nations must be adhered to, especially the
principles of respecting the sovereignty of all countries and non-interference
in other countries' internal affairs.
-- Disputes must be settled
using peaceful means, such as mediation, good office and negotiation.
Compulsory means should not be adopted indiscreetly, nor should military
means be resorted to even for humanitarian ends.
-- Double standards should
be opposed. The policies and views of any one country or a few countries
should not be imposed on the UN Security Council, and military interference
by a small number of countries under the guise of the UN should not be
allowed.
-- In peace-keeping operations,
the following principles, which have proved to be effective in the past,
should be adhered to: obtaining agreement from the country concerned beforehand,
strictly observing neutrality and prohibiting the use of force except
for self-defense.
-- Be practical and realistic.
A peace-keeping operation should not be undertaken when conditions are
not yet ripe, nor should a peace-keeping force become a party to a conflict,
which would be a deviation from the fundamental purpose of peace-keeping
operations.
Adhering to the above principles,
China has participated in UN peace-keeping operations. In 1990, China
began to assign military observers to UN peace-keeping operations; since
then it has sent 437 military observers in 32 groups to join six UN peace-keeping
operations, viz, the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO)
in the Middle East, United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission (UNIKOM),
Un ited Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC), United Nations
Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), United Nations
Operation in Mozambique (ONUMOZ) and United Nations Observer Mission in
Liberia (UNOMIL).
In 1992, the Chinese government
dispatched an engineer unit to support the UNTAC peace-keeping operations.
A total of 800 men were sent in two batches, who, in 18 months, repaired
or extended four airports, repaired four highways totaling 640 kilometers,
built or rebuilt 47 bridges and completed many other service projects,
making useful contributions to the successful operations of the United
Nations peace-keeping forces in Cambodia.
China still has 32 military
observers serving with the UNTSO, UNIKOM and MINURSO. In May 1997, the
Chinese government decided that in principle China would take part in
the UN's stand-by arrangements and would provide military observers, civilian
policemen, and engineering, medical, transportation and other logistic
service teams in due time for UN peace-keeping operations.
Chinese personnel assisting
UN peace-keeping operations have conscientiously fulfilled their responsibilities
and made great contributions to world peace. Some of them have even sacrificed
their lives. In the years to come, China will continue to participate
in UN peace-keeping operations in a positive and down-to-earth manner.
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